Retailer C&A launches sustainable jeans in partnership with Fashion for Good

By

Shomara Roosblad

Published
Aug 20, 2018

Dutch retailer C&A has launched a sustainable jeans collection in partnership with the Amsterdam-based platform for sustainable fashion innovation, Fashion for Good.

According to C&A, the jeans are the first-ever to be completely made out of sustainable materials.

Jeffrey Hogue, Global Chief Sustainability Officer at C&A, said: “Designing the most sustainable jeans was a challenge where teams worked diligently for more than a year. It required a close partnership between C&A and Fashion for Good with various suppliers, the Cradle to Cradle assessors MBDC and Eco Intelligent Growth (EIG) led by William McDonough, and the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. All material properties had to be carefully assessed and tested in line with the rigorous Cradle to Cradle Certified™ product standards.”

In addition, C&A said that it deliberately chose to produce jeans since they are a 'very complex garment and iconic product'.

Lewis Perkins, president of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, added: “The collaborative, forward-thinking approach taken by C&A in being the first retailer to create jeans that meet Cradle to Cradle Certified at the Gold level, one of the highest levels of Cradle to Cradle certification, represents another significant milestone in the shift towards truly sustainable fashion.”

Along with the jeans, the retailer will launch a ‘Guide on Developing Cradle to Cradle Certified denim’, which includes information on how to develop circular jeans. The open source guide will be available for free to organizations interested in the Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Program requirements.

With initiatives as the sustainable produced jeans, C&A aims to make sustainable produced fashion the 'new normal'. From August,the jeans will be available for men and women at a retail price of €29, exclusively at the C&A web store. C&A’s Cradle to Cradle Certified collection is marketed under the #WearTheChange campaign, which launched in the spring of 2018. C&A is also the founding partner of the global operating platform Fashion for Good, which launched in 2017.